[Ask Inna] Your Uncommon Immune Questions Answered

The Coronavirus Pandemic and COVID crisis has a lot of people asking me about immune support

April 30, 2020

The Question – Should I Change My Supplements if I’m Sick?

Should I be taking different vitamins for general immune support and prevention versus if I am already sick or feel like I am coming down with something?

The Short Answer

Yes, yes, yes!

Inna’s Response

General immune support for prevention is going to differ from supporting your immune system while you are trying to regain your health.

How to support the immune system for prevention

For a typical 150 pound person, I recommend 1000-2000 mg of vitamin C such as C+BioFizz or Stellar C. I also recommend about 30 mg of Zinc and an adequate amount of vitamin D. The dosage of D should be based on blood tests that indicate your current status, however 5000 IU of vitamin D per day would typically be recommended. I use a liquid D for those who may have issues with fat soluble vitamins and the Vitamin D Supreme capsules for all others. Additionally Silvercillin is wonderful for general immunity and prevention and most people do very well with these.

How to support the immune system during acute infection

If you are already sick, the above dosages should change and other supplements can be added to help you better fight infection. This is true not just for COVID-19 but for any cold, flu or respiratory illness.

Increase the vitamin C significantly for the first few days to up to a week but make sure you don’t take it all at once. In this episode, I explain in detail the process for finding your body’s tolerance for vitamin C but it typically involves taking 500-1000 mg of vitamin C every hour or so to bowel tolerance. There is a ton of research about the benefit of high dose vitamin C in fighting infections.

I also recommend that my clients double their zinc to 60 mg per day for the duration of their illness but not much longer than that. 2 Tbsp of Silvercillin is also very helpful in acute stages of the illness. I’m also a huge fan of Oregano and recommend taking either 3 capsules of the oil or Oregano gel caps, twice per day for the duration of the illness.

Finally, if the illness is more severe, I’d add Monolaurin. Garlic can also be helpful, I use either the Allicilin (3 gel caps, twice a day) or Allimed (2 caps per day).

The Question – Are Immune-Boosters Safe for Autoimmune Disease?

Are all immune support supplements safe if I have an autoimmune disease?

The Short Answer

No.

Inna’s Response

When you have an autoimmune disease, the immune system is already over active against your own tissues so you don’t want to take supplements that will further stimulate activity and can increase the attack on your own organs at the same time.

Some common immune-boosting herbs to be mindful of include:

Echinacea

Astragalus

Reishi and other immune supporting mushrooms

Green Tea and

Elderberry

However, Vitamin C, Zinc D, Oregano and Garlic-based supplements should be safe.

The Question – Is Elderberry still recommended for Coronavirus?

What is the deal with elderberry? Elderberry has been talked about so much about being great for COVID but now we are hearing it’s not good anymore, what is actually true?

The Short Answer

It depends on when you take it.

Inna’s Response

We are still learning about the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 and new information is discovered with each week that passes.

The consensus right now is that you can very safely and effectively take elderberry for prevention and for mild symptoms (unless you have autoimmunity). However if you do test positive for COVID and the infection progresses to the later stages, we would want to stop elderberry. At this stage, the immune system is overwhelmed by the virus and Elderberry could overstimulate the system making the problem worse.

It is still very much safe and recommended for prevention.

The Question – Is More Zinc Better?

We are hearing about the positive effects of zinc on all types of infections and wanted to know if more is better?

The Short Answer

Probably not.

Inna’s Response

Zinc is beneficial but it is a mineral and all minerals work together with other minerals in the body resulting in both synergistic and antagonistic outcomes.

When you take a very high dose of zinc, you risk depleting your copper. I don’t recommend more than 30 mg of zinc for prevention (unless you are taking extra copper). If you are sick, it’s safe to double the zinc, but only for a short time (no more than 2 weeks). This shouldn’t significantly deplete copper. A copper deficiency can potentially lead to more bacterial infections and problems with the blood and even things like aneurysms.

A hair test is a great way to determine your current zinc and copper levels. If you have never done a hair test, this test is quick, easy and not very expensive and you can order it yourself! When you get the results, make sure you look at the ratio of zinc to copper which should ideally be around 8. Anything lower than 8 indicates that you can increase your zinc intake. Anything above 8 means you should take extra copper along with the zinc.

Eliminating Health Mysteries

The most powerful way for us to eliminate health mysteries is to investigate them and refuse to accept that there are no answers.

If you or someone you know has a health question or is dealing with an unexplained healthy concern – please send me an email. Let’s find that missing clue!

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